The content below from “This is a Civilized Place for Public Discussion” is the standard FAQ for Discourse, the excellent platform that hosts Food Talk Central. Generally it’s on point, but it implies a higher level of moderation than I can be bothered with. The golden rule for this board is, comport yourself like grownups.

That includes but is not limited to:

Keep the discussion on food. Disparaging remarks about others (even people not on this board) may be removed. Think twice before using the word “you” in anything but a complimentary context. Think twice before using the word “overrated” to be sure you’re not insulting other posters who don’t share your opinion.

If you directly insult another user your account may be permanently blocked. (Should we really need to say this?)

Skip the boring clutter: no bickering, hectoring, name-calling, pontificating or repeating yourself just to get the last word.

If profanity is part of your schtick, no problem, but consider that excess random profanity may make you come off like a stoner (not that there’s anything wrong with that) or teenager.

If one of your posts is moderated and you want to discuss it, do so in Site Feedback. If you argue with moderators elsewhere your account may be suspended.

Above all, don’t be a dick.

On the other hand, please don’t refrain from posting because you’re afraid of breaking some rule. For example, if you accidentally post in the wrong category, we can easily move it.

“Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even to the dull and the ignorant; they too have their story.”—“Desiderata,” Max Ehrmann (1927)

“Avoid quiet and passive persons, unless you are in need of sleep.”—“Deteriorata,” Michael O’Donoghue, Tony Hendra, and Christopher Guest (1972)

Please treat this discussion forum with the same respect you would a public park. We, too, are a shared community resource — a place to share skills, knowledge and interests through ongoing conversation.

These are not hard and fast rules, merely aids to the human judgment of our community. Use these guidelines to keep this a clean, well-lighted place for civilized public discourse.

Help us make this a great place for discussion by always working to improve the discussion in some way, however small. If you are not sure your post adds to the conversation, think over what you want to say and try again later.

The topics discussed here matter to us, and we want you to act as if they matter to you, too. Be respectful of the topics and the people discussing them, even if you disagree with some of what is being said.

One way to improve the discussion is by discovering ones that are already happening. Please spend some time browsing the topics here before replying or starting your own, and you’ll have a better chance of meeting others who share your interests.

The conversations we have here set the tone for everyone. Help us influence the future of this community by choosing to engage in discussions that make this forum an interesting place to be — and avoiding those that do not.

Discourse provides tools that enable the community to collectively identify the best (and worst) contributions: favorites, bookmarks, likes, flags, replies, edits, and so forth. Use these tools to improve your own experience, and everyone else’s, too.

Moderators have special authority; they are responsible for this forum. But so are you. With your help, moderators can be community facilitators, not just janitors or police.

When you see bad behavior, don’t reply. It encourages the bad behavior by acknowledging it, consumes your energy, and wastes everyone’s time. Just flag it. If enough flags accrue, action will be taken, either automatically or by moderator intervention.

In order to maintain our community, moderators reserve the right to remove any content and any user account for any reason at any time. Moderators do not preview new posts in any way; the moderators and site operators take no responsibility for any content posted by the community.

These are not concrete terms with precise definitions — avoid even the appearance of any of these things. If you’re unsure, ask yourself how you would feel if your post was featured on the front page of the New York Times.

This is a public forum, and search engines index these discussions. Keep the language, links, and images safe for family and friends.

You may not post anything digital that belongs to someone else without permission. You may not post descriptions of, links to, or methods for stealing someone’s intellectual property (software, video, audio, images), or for breaking any other law.

This site is operated by your friendly local staff and you, the community. If you have any further questions about how things should work here, open a new topic in the site feedback category and let’s discuss! If there’s a critical or urgent issue that can’t be handled by a meta topic or flag, contact us via the staff page.

Yes, legalese is boring, but we must protect ourselves – and by extension, you and your data – against unfriendly folks. We have a Terms of Service describing your (and our) behavior and rights related to content, privacy, and laws. To use this service, you must agree to abide by our TOS.